A man appeared in the Auckland District Court today charged with attempting to smuggle $9.3 million of methamphetamine hidden in welding machines into New Zealand.
The 31-year-old man was first charged with importing a Class A drug following his arrest on Thursday.
But, in a separate statement today, Customs NZ said its investigations led to the man being connected to six separate air freight consignments of methamphetamine in four welding machines intercepted at the border between January and May 2022.
The methamphetamine was found in four welding machines, each containing 12 kilograms of the drug, ink cartridges containing eight kilograms of the drug, and an air cooler that hid six kilograms of methamphetamine.
Customs investigations manager Cam Moore said the arrest was a result of effective targeting and detection at the border, backed up with first-class intelligence.
“Customs is working across all points of entry in Aotearoa to ensure drug smugglers are prevented from getting their drugs into the market," he said.
"These seizures could have caused enormous harm, damaging lives and funding further crimes. We won’t let the drug smugglers exploit New Zealand for their own gains.”
The man, who also had an arrest warrant against him for breaching bail conditions and failing to appear in court on previous drugs charges, will reappear in court on October 7.
